The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground,
&c.] Or till it; for though these might not be joined together in a yoke, yet they were made use of separately in ploughing land, ( Deuteronomy 22:10 ) :
shall eat clean provender;
the word for "provender" signifies a mixture, such as cattle eat, especially horses, as beans, oats, barley, and fitches, and of which there should be such plenty, that the cattle should eat of it; not of the chaff and husks of these, nor these in their husk and straw, but as cleansed from them, as follows:
which hath been winnowed with the shovel and with the fan:
with the former of which the corn was raised up and shook, and with the latter fanned. Now this is expressive of great plenty, that cattle should feed on winnowed corn. The Septuagint indeed render it,
``they shall eat chaff mixed with winnowed barley;''but if they were to eat chaff with it, there would be no need to winnow it. This may be mystically understood of apostles, and of apostolical men, as Jerom; and of all Gospel preachers, especially in the latter day, who labour in the word and doctrine, and feed upon the pure food of the Gospel themselves, and bring it to others; see ( 1 Corinthians 9:9 1 Corinthians 9:10 ) ( 1 Timothy 5:17 1 Timothy 5:18 ) .